About me...

What led me into all of this (roughly in this order) is a tapestry of: life challenges (anyone not experience these?), working with personal healing and building resilience through study and practice of yoga, Nonviolent Communication, restorative justice, and other restorative practices, and simply (but not so easily sometimes) practicing Presence, engaging with and learning to love Life, including Kissing the Hag (always working on that one!). Along the way I've integrated all of this into raising three kids - now grown - and working professionally in the fields of law and education. It was in my guise as a middle school Spanish teacher from 2005-2010, that I really got to grapple with the nuts and bolts of consciously living non-violence to cultivate a co-operative, co-creative, and restorative approach in our classroom and school. Seeing so much benefit - and challenge - I just had to investigate. From 2011-2015, I stepped out of day to day teaching in order to focus, reflect, and share what I'd learned, study with leaders in the field, and nurture the sparks of restorative practice in our community by organizing and participating in learning events, supporting and facilitating Circle practices, collecting resources, and writing on the topic. This website is a result of that. Because these are intrinsically community based practices, I've found that the most accessible and beneficial way they take root is when they're integrated into daily life among people who live, work, and play together. So, today, in my personal life and as I return to my professional career, these practices inform my approach, and I continue to share about them with others as the need naturally arises.